<I>"Windy day; starting off with light NW and the lightweight, moving on to moderate westerly's and the medium weight, then a good westerly 6 gusting 7 with the heavyweight, followed by a lovely westerly gale with a poled out Yankee 1.

"The wind dropped off a bit the last hour or so, but what looks like a line squall or front is about a mile away from coming over us so hopefully we'll get our westerly gale back."

These winds have been producing good surfing conditions for the fleet. Bristol Clipper reached 17 knots on one wave, whilst Liverpool seems to hold the record with a top speed of 18.4 knots.

The fleet has also hit a favourable current, helping to bump up the overall daily runs. Most yachts have averaged over 9 knots in the last 12 hours, with Hong Kong Clipper just below at 8.8.

Jersey Clipper continues to do well, with Bristol still holding a threatening position. Although only a few miles behind in distance to go, she is taking a more northerly course in the hope of getting a chance to outflank her rivals.

Liverpool Clipper sits just behind Bristol in third place and is also geographically chasing hard with less than 5 miles between them.

Three miles then separate fourth from sixth place. The Glaswegians look to be virtually neck and neck with the New Yorkers a few miles to the south, but interestingly it is London and Hong Kong who share 6th place despite Hong Kong being 20 miles to the north northwest.

Cape Town Clipper continue to be the southern most team and as such are 4 miles further away on the great circle route to the finish.

The crews will need to take advantage of these high speeds as it does not look as if they will continue much beyond the weekend. An area of high pressure is forecast to establish over the north Atlantic by early next week and this could well slow the eight Clippers once more.

Tom Burton (AUS) and Alison Young (GBR) hit the right note in the Laser and Laser Radial at ISAF Sailing World Cup Melbourne as they took out the top honours and qualification spots to the 2015 ISAF Sailing World Cup Final.

It was double Australian gold in the Paralympic classes. Matt Bugg (AUS) came out on top in the 2.4mR whilst London 2012 Paralympic SKUD18 gold medallists Dan Fitzgibbon and Liesl Tesch (AUS) were triumphant in the two person keelboat.

Lithuania's Juozas Bernotas came out on top in the Men's RS:X whilst Russia's Stefania Elfutina was triumphant in the Women's RS:X. Both sailors claim the first Abu Dhabi ISAF Sailing World Cup Final spots whilst Jock Calvert (AUS) and Joanna Sterling (AUS) picked up the Oceanic spots for the Emirati finale.

There was some fast paced action in the 49er and 49erFX Medal Races at ISAF Sailing World Cup Melbourne as Nathan Outteridge & Iain Jensen (AUS) and Maia & Ragna Agerup (NOR) claimed the honours and Abu Dhabi final spots.

A tight group of five young Papua New Guinean (PNG) Laser sailors are stepping up their 2015 Pacific Games competition program using this week's ISAF Sailing World Cup Melbourne. PNG is one of 33 countries represented at the important Oceanic event, the largest Olympic sailing regatta in the southern hemisphere.

Melbourne, Australia will host the final Rio 2016 Paralympic Games qualification regatta in 2015. With just under one year until the event, the 2015 IFDS Worlds was launched at ISAF Sailing World Cup Melbourne.

ISAF Sailing World Cup Melbourne kick starts the journey to the 2015 ISAF Sailing World Cup Final in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates with qualification spots and top ranking points available in the Australian city.

Shawn Bennett (USA) won the Long Beach Stop of the 2015 California Dreamin' Series Sunday in this International Sailing Federation (ISAF) Grade 3 match racing regatta hosted by Long Beach Yacht Club and raced on the Long Beach Sailing Foundation's fleet of Catalina 37s.

After the limits of the southern oceans imposed by the combination of the weather systems and the safety barrier of the Antarctic Exclusion Zone, the Atlantic is opening up for the top trio of the Barcelona World Race.